MI9 facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

MI9 was a secret department of the British military during World War II (1939-1945). Its full name was the Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 9.

MI9 had two main jobs during the war. First, it helped Allied prisoners of war (POWs) escape from countries controlled by the Axis, especially Nazi Germany. Second, it helped Allied soldiers and airmen avoid being captured if they were shot down or stuck behind enemy lines.

About 35,000 Allied military people escaped or avoided capture during World War II. Many of them were helped by MI9.

The most famous thing MI9 did was create and support "escape and evasion lines." These were secret routes and networks, especially in France and Belgium. They helped about 5,000 British, American, and other Allied airmen who were shot down to avoid capture and return to duty.

The usual escape routes from occupied Europe went south to Switzerland. Or they went through southern France and then over the Pyrenees mountains to neutral Spain and Portugal. MI9 also trained Allied soldiers and airmen on how to escape and avoid capture. They helped POWs by setting up secret ways to communicate and by sending them special escape tools.

How MI9 Started
Secret Escape Lines
MI9 in the Middle East
Clever Escape Aids
After the War
Important People in MI9
See Also

How MI9 Started

MI9 officially began on 23 December 1939. It was led by Major (who later became Brigadier) Norman Crockatt. He used to be in a military group called The Royal Scots.

In December 1941, a smaller part of MI9 became its own department, called MI19.

At first, MI9 was located in Room 424 of the Metropole Hotel in London. Because they needed more space, they also used a floor at the Great Central Hotel. This hotel was near Marylebone station. Escaped POWs were brought here to tell their stories about getting home.

In September 1940, a German bomb slightly damaged the Metropole Hotel. So, Crockatt moved MI9 to a large country house called Wilton Park in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

MI9 didn't get much money or staff at first. This was because of disagreements with MI6, which was the oldest and most important British secret service. The assistant head of MI6, Claude Dansey, wanted to control MI9. He didn't want newer secret services like MI9 to compete with MI6's job of gathering information.

Two well-known parts of MI9 were Intelligence School 9, section d, known as IS9(d) or "Room 900," and "Q."

Room 900 was staffed by James Langley and Airey Neave. They joined MI9 in 1941 and 1942. Both of them were soldiers who had escaped from German prisons. Langley and Neave focused on creating and supporting the escape lines in Europe.
"Q" was staffed by Christopher Hutton and Charles Fraser-Smith. Their job was to invent clever devices to help soldiers escape or avoid capture. The "Q" section became famous in the James Bond movies for making spy gadgets.

Secret Escape Lines

Secret escape lines for Allied soldiers and airmen began after the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940. Many British soldiers were left behind and captured. But about 1,000 soldiers in France managed to avoid capture by the Germans. They eventually made their way back to Britain with the help of these escape lines.

At first, French and Belgian citizens who were against the German occupation created and paid for these escape lines themselves.

Many stranded soldiers went to Marseilles in Vichy France. This area was supposedly independent but was actually controlled by Nazi Germany. People in Marseille created the Pat O'Leary Line. This line helped British soldiers in Marseille escape to neutral Spain, either by boat or by walking over the Pyrenees mountains.

In July 1940, MI9 sent a young man named Donald Darling to Spain and Portugal. His job was to help the new Pat Line get soldiers from France to Spain.

In Nazi-occupied Belgium, Belgians created the Comet Line. MI9 found out about Comet in September 1941. This was when a young woman named Andrée de Jongh arrived at the British Consulate in Bilbao, Spain. She brought a British soldier with her. She had guided him all the way from Belgium through German-occupied France. She promised to bring more soldiers if MI9 paid the Comet Line's costs. A British diplomat, Michael Creswell, became the main contact for the Comet Line in Spain.

Working for the escape lines was one of the most dangerous resistance activities in Europe. About half of the "helpers" (as they were called) were women, mostly young. They could travel more easily and were less suspicious to the Germans than men.

The Comet line at first didn't want any help or advice from MI9. They only accepted money to cover their costs (about $200 to $300 in 1942 US dollars) for each airman or soldier they delivered to Spain. The Pat Line received money from MI9. They also got wireless operators from April 1942 to communicate between Marseille and MI9 headquarters.

As Allied planes bombed occupied Europe more often in 1942, the escape lines focused on rescuing airmen who had been shot down. The Germans managed to mostly destroy the Pat line and weaken the Comet line. So, MI9 helped create new lines.

MI9 created the Shelburne Escape Line. This line helped downed airmen escape by boat from the coast of Brittany to England. In Operation Marathon, MI9 set up a secret camp. It hid downed airmen in a remote forest until Allied forces could rescue them after the successful Normandy invasion of France.

MI9 in the Middle East

In late 1940, Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier) Dudley Clarke went to Cairo. He was asked to go by the Commander-in-Chief, Middle East, General Sir Archibald Wavell. Clarke's main job was to manage military tricks and deceptions in the region.

To hide this secret mission, he was also given the job of managing MI9's presence in the Middle East. After Clarke set up his 'A' Force deception department, this cover was used for the whole office. For a while, 'A' Force represented MI9 in the region. Later in the war, the two became separate again.

Clever Escape Aids

MI9 made many different tools and gadgets to help prisoners of war escape. They sent these items to prisoner-of-war camps. Many of these ideas came from Christopher Hutton. Hutton was so popular that he built a secret underground bunker in a field where he could work in peace.

Here are some of the clever things Hutton made:

Compasses: Hidden inside pens or uniform buttons. They had a special "left-hand thread." This meant if Germans tried to unscrew them, they would just get tighter.
Maps: Printed on silk, so they wouldn't make noise. They were disguised as handkerchiefs and hidden inside canned food.
Special Boots: For aircrew, these boots had parts that could be removed. This made them quickly look like regular civilian shoes. The hollow heels contained small packets of dried food.
Razor Blades: A special razor blade, if placed on water, would act like a magnet and point north.
Uniforms: Some spare uniforms sent to prisoners could be easily changed into civilian suits.
Floor Plans: Officer prisoners inside Colditz Castle even asked for and received a complete map of the castle's layout.
Escaper's Knife: This special knife had a strong blade, a screwdriver, three saws, a lockpick, a tool for forcing things open, and a wire cutter.

MI9 also used the help of a former magician named Jasper Maskelyne. He designed hiding places for escape aids. These included:

Tools hidden in cricket bats and baseball bats.
Maps hidden in playing cards.
Real money hidden in board games. For example, maps were hidden in Monopoly boards, and real money was hidden among the Monopoly money.

Forged German identity cards, food coupons, and travel passes were also secretly sent into POW camps by MI9.

MI9 sent these tools in parcels. They used the names of various, usually fake, charity organizations. They did not use Red Cross parcels. This was to avoid breaking the Geneva Convention (rules for war) and to stop guards from limiting access to them. MI9 hoped their parcels wouldn't be searched by the Germans. Or, they made sure prisoners (who were secretly warned) could remove the hidden items before the parcels were searched. Over time, German guards learned to look for and find these escape aids.

The British game company Jaques of London was asked by MI9 to make different games. These games, from board games to sports equipment, contained many escape devices. This included:

Travel and full-sized chess sets with hidden items inside the wooden boards, boxes, or chess pieces.
Table tennis, tennis, and badminton racquets containing money, maps, and tiny compasses.
Dart boards filled with escape devices and tools.
Shove halfpenny boards that were hollowed out and filled with escape aids.
Larger boxed games that contained even more hidden items.

It wasn't until X-ray machines were used at German POW camps that the German authorities started to find a lot of the escape materials.

In southern China, the MI9 unit called the British Army Aid Group helped POWs in Japanese camps escape to China during World War II. This group was closely connected to the Hong Kong Chinese Regiment.

After the War

In 1959, a military unit called 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) was formed. This happened by renaming the Reserve Reconnaissance Unit, which was the group that took over from MI9.

Important People in MI9

Peter Baker
Michael Bentine
Charles Fraser-Smith
Christopher Hutton
James Langley
Airey Neave

The Staff of MI9 (At Wilton Park. Beaconsfield, Bucks. February 1940)

Lt. Col. N.R. Crockatt (GSO1)
Lt. Cdr. P.W. Rhodes R.N.
Capt. C Clayton-Hutton (I.O.)
Capt. H.B.A. de Bruyne (I.O.)
Capt. L. Winterbottom
Flt. Lt. A.J. Evans
Major C.M. Rait (GSO3)
Major V.R. Isham (GSO2)